BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — After losing by eight wickets to Australia in the Ashes, Brendan McCullum identified England’s main problem: overtraining.
So, needing to win the final three Tests of the series to reclaim the Old Urn – a symbol of the fierce rivalry between England and its former colonies – the England coach will be hoping his side recharge and recover in one of Australia’s premier beach resorts.
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In interviews with Australia and the BBC, McCallum spoke about the poor conditions in Australia and said the biggest problem after the disastrous opening series defeat in Perth was too much practice ahead of the day-night Test in Brisbane.
“Honestly, leading up to this Test match, I felt we were overprepared,” he told Australia’s Channel 7 after Sunday night’s eight-wicket defeat at the Gabba. “We had five days of intense training and I think sometimes when you’re in the thick of a fight, sometimes the most important thing is to feel a little bit fresh and make sure your (head space) is completely sound.
“I think the lads just need a few days off. Need to change the training approach a little bit. We’ll let the dust settle from the intensity of the past few weeks and then start plotting and planning our way back into the series.”
The third Test begins in Adelaide on December 17, with Australia needing just a draw to retain the Ashes.
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In the first two Tests, England lost a strong position due to undisciplined bowling or poor shot selection by batsmen trying to score runs unnecessarily quickly, and too many catches were missed.
The coaching staff were criticized for organizing only one warm-up tour in Australia before the series. A growing number of former internationals have criticized coaches and players for pursuing an attacking-at-all-costs mentality rather than adapting to conditions or match situations.
McCallum’s approach is to keep looking forward.
“The captain’s message, my own message: You can’t come to this country and start sulking and feeling sorry for yourself if things don’t work out,” McCallum said. “When you tour Australia you can’t wear a glass chin. You have to get up and you have to go again. You have to put some on when you come in and then you have to move towards your goal.”
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England have not won an Ashes Test in Australia since winning the series in 2010-11. It’s an issue head coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes are determined to address.
Stokes restored the traditional approach to Test cricket on Sunday when he partnered all-rounder Will Jacks with a half-century challenge for a 96-run knock that gave England a glimmer of hope and delayed Australia’s victory.
Stokes says England are capable of winning in Australia but they just need to figure out how to do better than Australia in the heat of the moment.
“When you know it’s not down to skill, you probably have to dig a little deeper and find out what we seem to have been doing in those big moments of the game,” Stokes said. “It seems to be a constant theme at the moment, when the game is in pressure moments, Australia keep outscoring us in those moments.”
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Australia’s heat and light can be difficult for visiting teams, and there’s also the added bounce of playing on a pitch in the summer sun. The crowd at the Ashes Test Ground was huge, loud and as unforgiving as the sun.
“They say Australia is not a place for weaklings – we are definitely not weak but we need to find something because we are 2-0 down and we have three games left,” Stokes said. “We’re not going to shy away from the battle at hand, but if we want to get these Ashes back to England we do need to look at what went wrong in the first two games and fix them as quickly as possible.”
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AP Cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
